Portable electric fan



Feb. 13, 1951 F. HONERKAMP ET AL PORTABLE ELECTRIC FAN Filed April 29,1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS mdrllch lflwwi'karnp,Le01wcLR.Ph1ZLip-s,

finale/WE Feb. 13, 1951 F. HONERKAMP ET'AL PORTABLE ELECTRIC FAN 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1948 //Vl/ Y7'O 86 iedfzbhHonerk LeonardR.Phi

Feb. 13, 1951 HQNERKAWB ETAL 2,541,251

PORTABLE ELECTRIC FAN Filed April 29, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PatentedFeb. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PORTABLE ELECTRIC FANFriedrich Honerkamp, Woodside, N. Y&, and Leone ard It. Phillips,Teaneck, N. J assignors, to. Anemostat Corporation of America, NewYork,, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application April'29, 1948,SerialNo; 23,928

4 Claims.

This invention relates to; portable electric fans, and has for one ofits objects to provide a portable electric fan which is of distinctive,attractive appearance and in which moving parts such as the motor andthe fan blades are concealed from view.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable electric fanincluding an air circulating unit and a combined support and handletherefor combined therewith in a novel manner.

Another object or" the invention is to provide a portable electric fanincluding an a r circulating unit and a casing therefor combinedtherewith in a novel manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable electric fanincluding novelnieans for supplying to the air circulated by the same avapor for air scenting, deodorizing or other purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable electric fanincluding means for filtering, heating and subjecting to the action of agermicidal lamp the air circulated by the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable electric lampin which the means mentioned are assembled in a practical, compactmanner and in which the various different elements comprising thecomplete fan assembly are designed to facilitate their manufacture andassembly.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will become morefully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consists in a portable electric fanem bodying the novel features ofconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts as are illus tratedby way of example in the accompanying drawings and as will behereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of referencedenote corresponding parts in the different Views:

Fig. 1 is a central, longitudinal section through a portable electricfan constructed in-accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in top plan and partly in horizontal section ofthe fan.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig; 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the lined-4 of-rFig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the fan.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be observed that thepresent fan comprises, gene erally speaking, an air circulating unit,desig 2 nated generally as'A,'; and a support therefor, designatedgenerally, as B;

While the unit A may be of any suitable, type, it preferably is of theaxial flow type comprising a motor housing I0; an open-ended annularmember II surrounding said motor housing and connected thereto byairflow directing vanes ii; an electric motor l3 mounted in said motorhousing, and blades l4 driven by said motor for circulating airforwardly through said annular member H. V

In accordance with the invention an openended tubular member, I5 ofvsheet, metal or, other suitable materialis suitably secured at itsfrontend to the rear end of the'annular member lland extends rearwardly fromthe latter inaxial alinement. therewith constituting, ineffect, a

rearward extension of said annular member H In the tubularmember i5 issuitably mounted an electrical heating element Iii-10f any suitable typefor:v heating air, flowing-through said tubue larmember. Also suitablymounted in said tubular member l5-is a bracket I! which carries abase Itfor a germicidal lamp 19 which, when energized, is effective todestroyharmful germs which may be contained in air flowing through. saidtubular member. A, starter 20 and a ballast; element 21 for said lamp I9also are carriedbythe bracket I .1.

Enclosing the unit A and the tubular member l5 is a casing 22 which iscomposed of sepa-- rate front and rear portionsr23-and 24, respectively,the front end portion of the former of which is inturned and engagedover the, front,

sembled in enclosing relationship to the unit A and the tubular memberl5;

In the casing 22, preferably at the bottom thereof, is mounted a switch26 for controlling the motor l3 and the heating element It, and a switch2'! for controlling the germicidal lamp l9.

The casing 22 is open at its front and rear,

ends, and 1 at its front-end carries a plurality of.

In any event, due, to the casing 22 beingdivided into front and rearsections, the same may be produced readily and, easily and may equally,readily and easily be as-- open-ended, hollow, flaring, annular members28 which are spaced apart to provide a plurality of flaring airpassageways a therebetween. Air circulated by the unit A is deliveredfrom the device through the passageways a in a plurality of separateflaring streams whereby it is diffused and creates little or nosensation of draft.

M At the rear end of the casing 22 is a louver unit 29 which is composedof a plurality of openended annular members 30 which are spaced from thecasing 22 and from each other to provide a plurality of annularpassageways b for inlet of air to the fan. The members 30 are joinedtogether in a unitary assembly by a plurality of arms 31 which extendinto the rear portion of the casing 22 and are detachably connectedthereto by screws 32 or by any other suitable means. Thus, said louverunit may readily be attached to and detached from said casing In thelouver unit 29 is mounted suitable means 33 to filter air entering therear end of the casing 22 through the passageways b in said louverunit,said means comprising, for example, a layer of spun glass fibres orother suitable material suitably mounted upon a screen 3 1 or otherforaminous member which may be suitably mounted as, ior example, uponthe arms 3|.

Constituting part of the louver unit 29 and disposed centrally thereofis a container 35 for a vaporizable material for air scenting, airdeodorizing or any other desired purpose. In the container may be a bodyof absorbent material 35 to be saturated by the vaporizable material inthe event the latter is of liquid form. However, the said vaporizablematerial may be of solid, granular or other form, in which event theabsorbent material 35 is unnecessary.

The container 36 includes outer and inner walls 37 and 38, respectively,having therein openings 39 and 40, respectively, for circulation of airthrough said container. To regulate flow of air through said openingsand hence through said container, a valve member 4| is disposed againstthe outer face or" the outer wall 31 and is rotatable to cover anduncover the openings 39 in said outer wall. A stem 42 extends inwardlyfrom said valve member through the container 35 and through an arm $3 ofthe bracket ii and inwardly of said bracket arm is provided with a nut44 or other suitable abutment between which and said bracket arm isinterposed an expansion spring 45. Thus, the valve member il'is mountedfor rotation and the spring 45, reacting from the bracket arm 43 throughthe nut 44 and the stem 52, holds said valve member tightly against theouter face of the outer wall of the container 35. ihe valve member 3| isremovably mounted upon the stem 22 to permit ready removal of the louverunit 29 whenever desired.

The support B is formed from rod or rod-like material and is of novel,endless form. It comprises a horizontal base portion composed of a pairof laterally spaced apart arms 36 joined together at their rear ends bya curved, transversely extending arm .41, and an upright portioncomposed of a pair oi laterally spaced apart arms 48 constituting upwardcontinuations of the arms 48 and joined together at their upper ends bya curved, transversely extending arm 49.

The fan proper comprising the air circulating unit A, the casing 22 andthe elements contained in and carried by the latter, is disposed betweenand is mounted upon the arms 48 for tilting adjustments in a verticalplane by means of a pair of pivot members 50 which extend from said armsthrough the sides of the casing and are suitably connected to theannular member II. Said pivot members may, for example, be in the formof bolts extending through the arms 18 and threaded into the annularmember H, and between said arms and the casing 22 may be interposedsuitable friction washers 5! to be placed in compression by tighteningof said bolts to hold the fan proper in any desired position of tiltedadjustment relative to the support B.

The support B may be formed from a single length of rod, tubing or thelike or it may be composed of two or more sections of the same ordifferent materials. For example, the base portion thereof, includingthe arms 28 upward- 1y short distances above the pivot members 50, maybe formed from metal tubing, and the top portion thereof, including theupper portions of the arms 48 and their connecting portion 49, may beformed from plastic rod to enhance the attractive appearance of the fan.In any event,

the connecting portion 4!; extends over the fan proper and constitutes ahandle for use in placing the fan in any desired position.

The switch 25 is of a known type such that the heating unit 16 may ormay not be energized when the air circulating unit A is energized. Thus,the air circulated by the fan may or may not be heated, as desired.Likewise, the lamp [9 may or may not be energized as desired duringoperation of the air circulating unit A.

When the air circulating unit 'A is in operation, air is drawn from thespace in the rear of the fan through the louver passageways b into thecasing 22, flows forwardly through said casing and the tubular and theannular members l5 and l i and is discharged through the flaring passageways (1, whereby it is diifused. In entering the casing 22 the airpasses through the filtering element 33 and thereby is cleaned, and asit flows through said casing it may or may not be subjected to theaction of the germicidal lamp l9, as desired. Moreover, the valve 4! maybe adjusted to permit some of the air to flow through the container 35to entrain vapor from the material contained in said container for airscenting, deodorizing or any other desired purpose.

As will be apparent, the present fan is of attractive appearance and alloperating parts thereof are effectively housed and concealed from view.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that the construction andoperation of the present fan will be clearly understood and itsadvantages appreciated. It is desired to point out, however, that whileonly a single structural embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described, the same is readily capable of specificallydifierent structural embodiments within its spirit and scope as definedin the appended claims.

We claim:

I. A portable electric fan comprising a casing open at its rear end forinlet of air thereto and open at its front end for outlet of airtherefrom, means within said casing for circulating air therethrough, alouver unit at the rear end of said casing comprising a plurality ofannular spaced apart members and a plurality of arms connecting themtogether, and detachable connections between said arms and said casing,said louver unit including a container for a vaporiZ- able materialprovided with openings to permit flow therethrough of part of the aircirculated through said casing, and valve means for regulating flow ofair through said container and for thereby regulating the amount ofvapor entrained by the air circulated through said casing.

2. A portable electric fan comprising an openended annular member, amotor mounted in said member, an open-ended tubular member mounted uponsaid annular member and extending rearwardly therefrom in axialalinement therewith, a casing surrounding said annular member and saidtubular, member, blades driven by said motor for circulating air throughsaid casing and said tubular member and said annular member, a bracketmounted in said tubular member, a container for a vaporizable materialmounted upon the rear end of said casing and including rear and frontwalls having openings therein for flow therethrough of part of the aircirculated by said blades, a valve disposed against the rear face of therear wall of said container and movable to cover and uncover theopenings therein to regulate the amount of air which flows through saidcontainer, a rod extending from said valve through said container and aportion of said bracket, and spring means cooperating with said rod andsaid bracket to hold said valve against the rear wall of said container.

3. A portable electric fan comprising an openended casing structure, afan mounted in said casing structure for circulating air therethrough, alouver unit at the rear end of said casing structure through which airflows into said casing structure, said unit including a container for avaporizable material having a wall provided with openings for flow ofpart of the fan-circulated Sit) air through said container, a valvedisposed against said wall and rotatably adjustable to regulate flow ofair through said openings, and spring means holding said valve againstsaid wall.

4. A portable electric fan comprising an openended casing tructure, afan mounted in said casing structure for circulating air therethrough, acontainer for a vaporizable material mounted upon said casing structureand including a wall having therein openings for flow of part of thefan-circulated air through said container, a valve disposed against saidwall and movable to regulate flow of air through said container, abracket in said casing structure, a rod extending from said valvethrough said bracket, and spring mean cooperating with said rod and saidbracket to hold said valve against said wall.

FRIEDRICH HONERKAMP. LEONARD R. PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,170,526 Gaither Feb. 8, 19161,706,846 Fisher Mar. 26, 1929 1,840,918 Seale Jan 12, 1932 1,346,233Van Daam Feb. 23, 1932 1,967,757 Losee July 24, 1934 2,015,251 BrowningSept. 24, 1935 2,050,333 Jordan -1 Aug. 11, 1936 2,054,200 LangfordSept. 15, 1936 2,149,689 Smith et a1. Mar. 7, 1939 2,303,447 Fay et a1Dec. 1, 1942 2,415,621 Arnhym Feb. 11, 1947

